Darkness Before Dawn
by Milena D
Summary: Vala's First Christmas might stay with Daniel for longer than he'd thought.


**Title:**Darkness Before Dawn  
**Author:**Milena D.  
**Rating:** T  
**Genre:** Romance/Angst, etc. Daniel/Vala all the way ;)  
**SPOILERS:** None.

**Summary:** Vala's first Christmas might be more memorable for Daniel. Post AoT, no spoilers, only speculation.

**Author's Note #1:** This fic is dedicated to iheartvala! Merry Christmas!

**Author's Note #2:** A huge thanks to Susan, Stef and Cat for doing an awesome beta job!

oooooooooooooooooooo  
Darkness Before Dawn  
oooooooooooooooooooo

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. His life wasn't meant to flash before his eyes, not now. It was ludicrous! He felt fine! Unaware or uncaring of his protests, Daniel's mind spewed memory after memory at him in a fast-paced reel that might have left him dizzy had his body not been in such a dire state. From his childhood to his adulthood, gaining and losing friends and family, from digging up his foster parents' backyard to defending the galaxy from its numerous enemies. All of these memories flew before him, all the way up to the events that brought him here…

oooooooooooooooooooo

"This isn't Christmas music." Vala complained, glaring at the radio from the passenger seat of Daniel's car.

"It's not any music at all, it's an advertisement for snow globes." Daniel pointed out.

They were on their way to Cameron's house for what would be Vala's first Christmas celebration on Earth.

Of course, she'd been with SG-1 when the holiday came around last year but none of them had noticed the festive season rolling by. How could they when every single ounce of their time and energy had been spent fighting the Ori off at every turn? When she'd realized what a huge milestone she'd missed in her integration into Earth culture, Vala had bought a calendar and had circled each important date, refusing to miss another tradition. Not only was it important to her to fit in but without celebrations of life, she'd said in one of her rare moments of quiet wisdom, what good was winning a war?

Now here they were, free of the Ori and having hung their battle gear just three days before Christmas, a Monday of all days. They'd made small-talk then, still shocked more than a little dazed that it was all over. Cam had vowed never again to rag on the previously worst day of the week and Vala had oh so subtly asked if he'd be baking macaroons for the Christmas party. With bruises and bandages, none of them particularly felt up to a big celebration but it was almost a necessity. Although they'd spent the better part of the last few years constantly in each other's company as fellow soldiers, they desperately needed time together as friends, as family.

"Well that's my point," Vala huffed, hitting the radio keys to find another channel. "It's _Christmas_, the single biggest celebration in your country aside from that of your new year, isn't it?"

Daniel didn't have time to reply before Vala continued but he was only half-tuned in anyway, he was reserving his attention for the icy roads. Pain still shot up and down his left arm when he jostled it too much but there was no way he'd let an already keyed up Vala attempt her first driving lesson in the midst of mild blizzard.

"The entertainment industry should be filling us with-with Christmas cheer and appropriately themed music, _not_ wasting our time with propaganda meant to harass us into spending our hard-earned money on trite little baubles…"

Daniel sent her a sidelong glance of amusement and Vala rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I know, it's ironic coming from me but let's not dwell, shall we?" She remarked before continuing slightly petulantly. "I just want to bask in the spirit of the holidays, is that so much to ask?"

Looking over at Vala who, since having given up on the radio, had placed her hands in front of the heaters to warm her fingers, Daniel felt a pull towards her he'd only stopped ignoring a few months ago. Turning his eyes back to the road, he reached out and took her hand in his, his thumb stroking her skin in soothing motion. The gesture meant he had to use his left arm completely to drive but it was more than worth the pain to see the beautiful smile blossom on her face and have her shuffle closer to lay her head against his shoulder.

"It isn't too much to ask, especially given everything we've been through to get to this Christmas." Daniel agreed with her, lifting their hands to press a kiss to the back of hers before lowering them again.

"You'd think after everything we've done for it, the universe might see fit to give us just a _tiny_ bit of a reward…" Vala groused. As if on cue, the commercial ended and the car was filled with the warm melody of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."

"Ask and ye shall receive." Daniel grinned down at her for a moment. Vala shrugged indifferently before smirking.

"Well if that's the best it can do." She joked, lifting herself from her resting place against his arm to look out the window. "Though there's really no need to dream about something that threatens to bury you alive on your way to a party."

"Don't worry," Daniel said confidently, removing his hand from hers to get a better grip on the steering wheel. "We've got the best winter tires and headlights and I'm going 10 under the speed limit. We won't get there on time but we will get there."

"They'd better not break into the egg-knob before we do." she warned.

"It's egg_nog_ and I'm sure they'll wait for us, you are the guest of honour after all." Daniel said distractedly as the snowfall got heavier and the road became less clear.

"Oh. What's a 'nog' then?" she asked after glowing at her title. Daniel didn't answer, too busy trying to find the street they were driving on.

"Daniel?"

"Just a sec." he muttered quietly.

"What's that?" Vala asked, now focused on the road herself.

"What's what?" he asked, squinting to see what she was looking at, slowing the car down to a near stop.

"That." She said, pointing into the storm.

"I can't see anyth-"

The lyrical notes of the radio were muted by Vala's screams and the grinding and twisting of metal as another vehicle plowed into them, shoving their car off the road and down an embarkment. Daniel's heart pumped madly as they tumbled but he couldn't make a sound. He knew Vala must still be screaming but he could only hear his own heartbeat rushing past his eardrums and in the darkness he reached out to hold onto her but his fingers only managed to brush the material of her jacket before his head was smashed against the window and he lost consciousness.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Some time later, when the world was once again calm, the other vehicle having disappeared, their own having settled at the bottom of the u-shaped ditch between the two one-way roads, Daniel was regaining some semblance of consciousness. He fought to awaken but he was also hesitant to do so. He knew instinctively that he wasn't at home in his bed, not only was he freezing but he couldn't feel Vala's head on his shoulder nor her arm around his waist. That alone created a conflict, on the one hand he was afraid to fully comprehend what trouble he was in and on the other, he needed to know where she was and needed to wake up to do so. Concern won over hesitance and Daniel finally managed to crack an eye open, the world outside being as dark as the one he'd just come from.

It took him a moment to orient himself but he finally deduced that the car must have landed rear-end down. The trunk would be nestled in the deepest groove of the ditch and the front of the car was leaning up its rising side. The car was still running, the headlights creating beacons of sorts for any passers-by and but the lit keys of the dash provided little luminescence to navigate so he reached up and gingerly pressed the overhead light with his right arm, his left screaming loudly in pain. As soon as his eyes became accustomed to the painful brightness, Daniel searched the passenger seat to find Vala. She was there, still unconscious, head rested against a red-smeared window that he chose to overlook for the moment. Her seat-belt was still firmly attached and Daniel had never been so happy to have won that argument. She balked at the contraption, citing the fact that nobody wore any belts for interstellar travel, but he'd refused to start the car without her fully strapped in and was now thanking his lucky stars that she'd relented.

"Vala" he croaked softly, barely recognizing his own voice. He cleared his throat a few times before trying again.

"Vala," he repeated more loudly, she didn't budge. He carefully undid his seatbelt and shuffled closer to her, placing his hands carefully around her back and waist and pulling her towards him. Her head now resting once more on his shoulder, he was able to see the blood-soaked patch of hair that had coloured the window. It didn't look too serious, the bleeding had already stopped awhile ago it would seem.

Though his arm spasmed in pain, he wound it around here again to bring her a few inches closer.

"Vala, wake up." he ordered her softly, keeping the worry out of his tone. Repeating the command louder, her brow finally furrowed as she shifted against him, refusing to fully comply.

"Vala," he sing-songed, pressing a warm kiss to her forehead, using the contact to calm his pounding heart, "you have to wake up. Or you can sleep and miss your first Christmas party, it's up to you. The eggnog will be gone, the chocolate log cake will be eaten, the movies will be watched, and the presents will be opened but you won't do any of it because you'll still be sleeping."

He rambled on for another minute or so before she finally opened her darkened eyes.

"Hey there." he smiled, hugging her to him carefully.

Her eyes blinked in confusion as she took in their surroundings.

"Mitchell has got poor tastes in decorations." she remarked glibly making Daniel laugh with relief. Looking out at the windshield already covered in fresh snow, he turned on the wipers to give them a clear view of the outside.

"I keep telling him, snow at Christmas is just so tacky." he replied with a grin and Vala sighed, shaking her head.

"That boy just never listens." she shrugged before wincing. The light brevity was gone now and replaced with worry.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked her, his eyes stilling on the crusted blood in her hair.

"Well I've got a serious migraine but I'd guess you have one too." she said, frowning at something past his shoulder.

"What?" he asked, not denying the painful drumming resonating through his skull. He turned to his window and saw a red spot on his window to match hers. He flinched suddenly as her fingers ran through his hair, probing for the wound.

"Agh, Vala, it's fine." he protested, backing away from her nimble fingers. She narrowed her eyes in skepticism but brought her hands back to her lap.

"And your arm?" she asked. "I know it still hurt before this."

"Well, I might not be dipping you when we dance for a while but I'm not in agony." he nodded. A lie but there was no point worrying her.

"There's more than one way to dance, darling, you know that." Vala replied with mischievous eyes. Memories of the previous night assaulted him and left him smiling.

"That's very true." he agreed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"As much as I'd love to relive past activities, we should probably be trying to find a way out of here." Vala said, nudging Daniel out of his reveries. He let his hand drop and looked out the once-more snow covered windshield with a sigh.

"I could barely see the road when we were on it, I doubt we'd get far on foot." he concluded. "Do you have your cell phone?"

"Um…" Vala turned to her seat and patted herself down in search of the elusive treasure. She grimaced as she finally found it, not on her body but between her chair and the door, in many pieces.

"I don't think we'll be able to call with it but it's on so the GPS might still be working," she offered.

"And the guys were expecting us almost an hour ago, they'll start looking soon." Daniel added confidently.

"And if the cell doesn't work, we still have our subcutaneous transmitters." Vala chimed in helpfully.

"Yes we do," he replied with a nod.

"We really don't have much privacy from the world, do we?" she smirked.

"No we don't," he shook his head ruefully with a boyish grin.

The next hour passed slowly, they spent it talking about this and that. They had turned off the radio to conserve the battery for the headlights and heat but it left the car in an eerie silence. Daniel still activated the wipers to clear the windshield every few minutes but he had noticed the snow piling up by his door. He didn't let Vala in on that fact, she seemed to be growing more and more nervous as the time wore on. His right arm was snuggly wrapped around her while he cradled his left to his stomach. Her knees were drawn up to her chest on the seat and her eyes stared worriedly into space. They both knew they were slowly being buried in a big metal box but they'd been in many worse situations and she'd never appeared so honestly distressed.

"Hey," he called quietly, winning her attention, "when you first came to Earth and the ceiling was coming down on us under Glastonbury Mound…"

"Under where?" she asked with confusion.

"The treasure cave? Where you stole the coin and almost killed us?"

"Well you were taking too long, you know I'm not a patient girl." she replied nonplussed.

"Were you telling the truth? About being claustrophobic?"

Vala smiled curiously as she looked up at him.

"Whatever made you think of that? It was over three years ago and we've been locked in small spaces since then." she said, pulling his arm tighter around her.

"You just seem preoccupied," he said quiety, tucking her into his side. "Just wondering why."

She stayed silent against him for some time.

"I'm just worried…" she started softly, making him look down at her and making her look away. "I'm just…worried that your present might have been banged around in the crash."

In a flash, the binds squeezing Daniel's heart released and he let out a very relieved laugh, quieting when Vala continued to look worried.

"Hey," he nudged her, "they're just baubles remember?" he assured her smiling. "It's the thought that counts."

"Trust me, Daniel, no thought went into your gift in the least." she replied dryly, brow still furrowed.

"O…kay," he replied hesitantly, "then what's the problem?"

"I just…I don't want to get sick, alright?" she replied with more agitation, placing her hands in front of the vents again.

"Vala, you're not making much sense." Daniel interjected. "I've never seen you get sick and even if you did it's not the end of the world. We're on vacation and if it's that bad, we can always use the healing device on base."

"No, Dr. Lam said it could be dangerous." Vala rambled quickly, her hands gesturing wildly. "She specifically said to be extra careful, and to stay warm and dry. Getting sick could put the baby at risk and this one isn't Ascended Being induced, Daniel…well, unless you still consider yourself an Ascended Being…it won't have super powers or-or healing capabilities. At best it will have large amounts of naquadah and I suppose that will allow it to use the healing device but _not_ in the _womb_, _Daniel._"

Finished her tirade, Vala ventured a look at Daniel, trying to control her breathing.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. His life wasn't meant to flash before his eyes, not now. It was ludicrous! Uncaring of his protests, Daniel's mind spewed memory after memory at him in a fast-paced reel that might have left him dizzy had his body not been in such a dire state. From his childhood to his adulthood, gaining and losing friends and family, from digging up his foster parents' backyard to defending the galaxy from its numerous enemies. None of it had prepared him for this. Vaguely he realized that Vala was shoving his leg repeatedly and he drew himself out of his panicked thoughts to see to her.

"You're pregnant." he said as if informing her of the fact.

"Yes, Daniel," she replied dryly, "it was bound to happen the way we've been-"

"You're pregnant," he repeated, looking at her as if for the first time, "and we're…we're stuck here."

The situation was suddenly so much scarier. As if it wasn't bad enough that he'd gotten the woman he loved into a potentially dangerous but his unborn child was trapped in a car in a blizzard…his unborn child…Daniel couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face when that thought ran through his head.

"We have to get out of here," he said suddenly, a frown overcoming his features.

"We can't, Daniel, you said it yourself, we'd get lost out there on foot." Vala said, feeling herself calming down as he got more worked up.

"No!" Daniel replied quickly, his eyes and hands moving to her stomach. "_You_ are not going anywhere. You're going to stay right here and stay warm and dry like-like Dr. Lam said and-and I'll go and find somebody or-or a phone and-"

"Daniel, breathe." Vala said, reaching up to cup his jaw with her hand, holding his troubled eyes with her steady ones and bringing his hand back to her stomach. "I'm fine, the baby is fine, and you will be fine if you just calm down."

Once again distracted by the thought of his child growing inside Vala, Daniel wasn't up to replying just yet.

"Now, Samantha knows about the baby, she won't take any chances letting the guys wait to come find us. We just have to be patient…and _calm_."

Looking back up into Vala's face, Daniel should probably have thought of how much he loved her or of how beautiful she looked in the car's overhead light but he was still blown by the news that he was going to be a father and there was only one thing on his mind now.

"Your hands are cold." he told with an air of accusation, as if she'd been concealing it from him.

"I'm fine, Daniel." Vala tried to assure him with a small roll of her eyes. Fortunately, Daniel was busy pushing his seat back and so he missed that part. Once he was as far as he could be from the wheel, he opened his arms to her.

"C'mere."

With a saucy smirk that lightened the previously uneasy mood, Vala gingerly slid over, throwing her leg over his to straddle his lap. She lowered herself onto him carefully in case he was bruised anywhere other than his arm but Daniel used good hand to pull her closer.

"Well this is certainly a much more efficient way to stay warm, darling. And we don't need to worry about protection since that ship has long since sailed." Vala grinned. Eager to dispel the uneasiness between them she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to kiss his chilled lips.

Daniel's hand left her side to cup the back of her head and he opened his mouth to grant her the access she was seeking. He let her unzip his coat, he moaned when she raked her nails down his chest through his sweater and he hissed when her cold hands appeared on his bare skin under the sweater. It was only when her hands landed on his belt did he break the kiss gently and stop her.

"Why does this seem familiar somehow?" Vala asked suspiciously. Daniel shrugged but didn't remove his hands from on top of hers.

"I don't know but it's not gonna happen." he informed her in a tone of finality.

"And why not?" she challenged, grinding down into sensitive parts. Daniel tensed for a moment and forgot to breathe for another but he finally regained his composure.

"Because, if we do that then you'll sweat and then you'll be wet in the cold and you'll develop pneumonia and that would put the baby at risk." he said in a single breath. Vala considered his words and slumped into him dejectedly.

"Fine, you're right." she conceded, laying her head on his good shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist under his coat. Daniel's chest jumped beneath her as he laughed and she lifted her head up to see him.

"What?"

"It's nothing," he smiled. "I just realized that this is the second argument I've won against you today."

Vala smirked at him.

"Don't delude yourself into thinking it's the hormones, Daniel. Trust me, you owe your winning streak to nothing short of a Christmas miracle." she mocked him sweetly.

"I've gotten more than one of those today." he said meaningfully, his hand finding its way under her coat to rest on her stomach. Vala's lips pursed together in a small smile.

"You're alright with it?" she asked in little more than a whisper, her eyes betraying her uncertainty. Daniel unzipped her coat and quickly zipped it to his, creating a cocoon of heat in which he could hold her without the bulky arms of their jackets. Once done, he reached up between them to guide her eyes to his.

"Vala, I love you," Daniel said clearly, his voice dropping to a solemn whisper as he continued, "and I love this baby…our baby…our child." His smile grew larger with each repetition and he found her reciprocating in kind.

oooooooooooooooooooo

His life wasn't meant to flash before his eyes, not now, but it did. The events of his life, his achievements, his contributions, all ran through his mind and might have left him dizzy had he not already become intoxicated from the experience hours ago. These precious memories flew before him, all the way up to the events that brought him here…and none of them meant a thing to him when his newborn daughter was wrapped in a soft pink blanket and placed carefully into his arms for the first time.

"She's beautiful." he whispered.

"What did you expect?" Vala smiled softly from the bed, her eyes never straying from the picture they made.

"Not this," he grinned, brushing his daughter's cheek, "not in a million years did I expect this."

His life might not have been supposed to happen like this but he had never been so glad that it did.

oooooooooooooooooooo  
oooooooooooooooooooo

Happy Holidays!


End file.
